Toying with the idea of cancelling my Spotify subscription. There are a number of reasons for this, but one that really gets to me is the insistent need to show video when playing a song. And there’s no way to turn it off anywhere (I tried looking for one). I listen to music when I’m w... lmika.org

@lmika what? I have never seen that happening. Is it something new?

@pcora I don't think it's new. I've seen it happen a few times over the last several years. I'm guessing it depends on the track and possibly the client (I'm using the Android mobile app). But if you want an example, try out this track.

@lmika I can remember there being an option named “Canvas” or something in the playback settings? I think that will make sure to turn off any animated backgrounds… I think. I don’t use Spotify much anymore. Certainly not on Android either.

@vincent Yeah, I thought I saw something like that as well. I tried turning it off a few times but it didn't seem to work. I guess I could try again but, honestly, leaving it on is enough to dissuade me from using Spotify to listen to something. It's not my main music listening app anyway, more like the music player of last resort if a song is not in my main collection.

@lmika how odd. I use Spotify on my browser and iPhone daily and have never had a video play. But if that started I’d hate it with an unholy passion.

@Annie @JohnPhilpin Thinking about it more, I do remember playing this exact track in my desktop browser a few days ago, and not seeing a video. Maybe it's Android phone only, which makes the whole feature even more strange.

Probably should also add that I've never actually watched the music video. I just see a second or two near the start or end as I change tracks or stop playback. So I can't confirm that it plays during the whole track, but I'm guessing that it does.

@lmika nope, here is simply shows the album art. 🤷‍♂️ But I get what you are saying, I hate videos playing around when I am not intentionally watching a video.

@lmika do you pay for Spotify? I wonder if that option to not play videos is a premium feature…

@vincent I do, actually. Maybe it's only for people with paid accounts. A bit of searching online provides some evidence for this. It also looks to be not in every market, which may explain why some have not seen it. 🤷

Actually looked into this a little more and in the process of writing a follow-up. In short, my initial concerns may have been a little overblown.